Accepting Fate - Book 2

Chapter 27 - Havana

Asimina

Bright sunlight creeps through the curtains, causing me to flutter my eyes open at the intrusion. Slowly stretching my body, my hand slides to Raffaele's side of the bed and finding it empty. It's disheartening. Rolling to his side of the bed, I bury my face into his pillow, taking in the intoxicating scent of Raffaele. Our first night back together and he's missing this morning.

"Good morning, beautiful!" His husky voice has my heart thundering. I sit up with a smile. He holds our son in his arms while staring at my bare chest. God! The sight of him! The dark gray suit pants and black shirt, fitted tightly, hugging his muscles perfectly. He's delicious.

"Hungry eyes?" He teases, wavering my thoughts. Shamelessly, and slowly I roam my eyes over him once more, before meeting his burning glare. His eyes are full of desire.

Smirking, he strolls over and places Nathan on our bed. Pulling the bed sheet up, he covers my breasts as Nathan crawls towards me. Picking him up, he squeals. I love these moments. I never pictured myself as a mother. I failed to look after myself at times. I was confident I couldn't look after a child. That all changed, from the first positive pregnancy test. The way Raffaele pulled me into his arms and kissed me, words weren't spoken, but he gave me the confidence and determination never to fail that little soul. But we lost him.

Nathan squirms out of my hold and sits next to me. Raffaele tucks his shirt in and buckles his belt. "I'm going to take him downstairs. The maids have breakfast ready." He laughs at my disappointed expression as I focus on his done-up pants. "Get that sexy ass out of bed and meet me downstairs. We have three hours before we leave."

Nathan intently watches his father as he walks around the bed. In a hurry, my son crawls over me to the other side. Raffaele turns and makes his way around, once more. Nathan giggles and puts all his energy to quickly crawl over me and get away from his father, again. Hearing me laugh, Nathan sits up. Raffaele abruptly slumps onto the bed, grabbing him by his foot. Nate falls back onto the pillow, hysterically laughing at his father. It's contagious! Chuckling at Nathan, Raffaele pulls him down and starts tickling him, both enjoying the moment.

Sliding off the bed, he picks him up. "Give mommy a kiss," Raffaele practically orders. Some things will never change! Leaning him down, I kiss his chubby cheek, and the man himself kisses me. Nathan cuddles his father. I smile at the two most important men in my life.

"Let's go, little man, breakfast." Raffaele turns and heads downstairs.

Jumping out of bed, I make my way to the bathroom, quickly heading for a shower. I stand under the hot running water a minute more, relaxing my body before turning the tap off. I want to spend at least an hour with my son before going away for the week.

A quick blow dry of my hair satisfies me enough not to bother straightening it. It's humid in Cuba anyway. Sliding on my red, knee-length dress, I run my hands down the front, smoothing out any creases. My eyes fall on the oval diamond, sparkling on my finger. Biting down on my lip, last night's events come to mind.

I begin getting a little emotional with the way Raffaele proposed and Petro's words to me. I've missed that idiot so much. When I was attacked that night at my house, I ran to find my cousin, confident he would help me. Convinced he would even dispose of the two dead bodies for me, even before I knew about his involvement with the mafia. There's been an emptiness inside me, although things with Raffaele and my sisters filled most of that, the loss of brotherly support has kept me from healing completely.

"I didn't give you that ring to see tears in your eyes constantly." My body jolts, startled. Raffaele leans against the door frame.

Smiling, I put him at ease, "They're from happiness." I face forward as he walks behind me, zipping up my dress.